Start-Up Nation Romania
Up to RON 250,000 of de minimis aid per newly established SME, covering no more than 90% of eligible project expenditure. The beneficiary must provide at least 10% own contribution and create at least two jobs. · Romanian Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism
Start-Up Nation Romania is a grant programme from Romanian Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism for New Romanian SMEs whose founders complete the edition's entrepreneurship-training and eligibility requirements Current lifecycle: unknown. Real economics: Up to RON 250,000 of de minimis aid per newly established SME, covering no more than 90% of eligible project expenditure. The beneficiary must provide at least 10% own contribution and create at least two jobs..
Tier 3governmentromaniagrantnon-dilutive
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Key facts
| Funder | Romanian Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism |
| Amount | Up to RON 250,000 of de minimis aid per newly established SME, covering no more than 90% of eligible project expenditure. The beneficiary must provide at least 10% own contribution and create at least two jobs. |
| Decision time | Applications that clear the published minimum of 50 points are ranked by score and then undergo administrative verification and contracting. The procedure does not publish a dependable end-to-end decision interval for the still-unannounced company-financing window. |
| Eligibility | An eligible Romanian resident in Pillar I or II who completes at least 40 hours of approved entrepreneurship training, establishes a new Romanian SME, serves cumulatively as legal representative, sole or majority shareholder and administrator, locates the business in the founder's development region, contributes at least 10% of eligible cost, and commits to create two jobs and preserve the activity and funded assets under the sustainability rules. |
| Restrictions | The beneficiary documents purchases, payments, co-financing and two created jobs, accepts announced or unannounced checks, keeps the funded activity for three years after full payment, keeps the jobs for at least 24 months after implementation, replaces vacancies within 45 days, preserves ownership of funded assets and company shares, and faces recovery for noncompliance. The procedure supports eligible technology and equipment, digital and renewable-energy assets, furniture and workspace equipment, wages and utilities within prescribed limits, websites/software, consultancy and other listed startup costs. Spending must follow the approved plan and procurement/payment rules; second-hand, unrelated, double-funded and excluded-sector costs are ineligible. |
| Status | unknown |
Always confirm on the official page before applying — dates and terms change.
Application process
- Register in the programme's electronic training module under the correct pillar and regional allocation
- Complete the free authorised entrepreneurship course of at least 40 hours and obtain the graduation certificate
- Establish a new Romanian SME with the eligible graduate as controlling executive founder
- Open the company-financing form when the ministry activates the relevant module
- Submit the scored business plan, budget, co-financing, job, ownership and eligibility declarations with electronic signature
- Pass automated scoring, minimum-score ranking, administrative verification and any clarification requests
- Sign the de minimis financing contract if selected
- Implement purchases and create at least two jobs within the contractual period
- Submit payment, invoice, employment and procurement evidence and accept inspections
- Maintain the activity for three years after full payment and both jobs for at least 24 months after implementation
Background
Romanian Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism operates Start-Up Nation Romania. This pass separates direct cash, repayable finance, credits, incentives and umbrella programs so later ranking does not compare unlike instruments. The two pillars have a combined published budget of EUR 446.185 million The programme targets approximately 7,500 new SMEs and 15,000 jobs, with 5,250 businesses and 10,500 jobs under Pillar I On 10 August 2026 the official training transparency page still showed 11,851 places available across four under-30 regional categories, while the over-30 category showed zero; these are training seats, not grant awards
How the application really works
Register in the programme's electronic training module under the correct pillar and regional allocation → Complete the free authorised entrepreneurship course of at least 40 hours and obtain the graduation certificate → Establish a new Romanian SME with the eligible graduate as controlling executive founder → Open the company-financing form when the ministry activates the relevant module → Submit the scored business plan, budget, co-financing, job, ownership and eligibility declarations with electronic signature → Pass automated scoring, minimum-score ranking, administrative verification and any clarification requests → Sign the de minimis financing contract if selected → Implement purchases and create at least two jobs within the contractual period → Submit payment, invoice, employment and procurement evidence and accept inspections → Maintain the activity for three years after full payment and both jobs for at least 24 months after implementation
Tips
- Show direct fit with cross-sector new business.
- Show direct fit with manufacturing.
- Show direct fit with creative industries.
- Show direct fit with information technology.
- Show direct fit with services.
- Show direct fit with digitalisation.
- Show direct fit with sustainable business.
- Show direct fit with eligible Romanian CAEN activities subject to the procedure's exclusions.
Watch out for
- Current lifecycle is unknown.
- The beneficiary documents purchases, payments, co-financing and two created jobs, accepts announced or unannounced checks, keeps the funded activity for three years after full payment, keeps the jobs for at least 24 months after implementation, replaces vacancies within 45 days, preserves ownership of funded assets and company shares, and faces recovery for noncompliance.
- The procedure supports eligible technology and equipment, digital and renewable-energy assets, furniture and workspace equipment, wages and utilities within prescribed limits, websites/software, consultancy and other listed startup costs. Spending must follow the approved plan and procurement/payment rules; second-hand, unrelated, double-funded and excluded-sector costs are ineligible.
Track record
- The two pillars have a combined published budget of EUR 446.185 million
- The programme targets approximately 7,500 new SMEs and 15,000 jobs, with 5,250 businesses and 10,500 jobs under Pillar I
- On 10 August 2026 the official training transparency page still showed 11,851 places available across four under-30 regional categories, while the over-30 category showed zero; these are training seats, not grant awards
The programme targets about 7,500 financed businesses—5,250 under Pillar I and 2,250 under Pillar II—but no current company-application denominator or realised acceptance rate is published.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this actionable now?
- unknown. Start-Up Nation Romania 2024 is a staged 2025–2028 programme: eligible people first complete a free 40-hour entrepreneurship course, then establish an SME and enter the company-financing module. The live portal still publishes remaining training places, but it does not state a current company-grant window or closing date; training availability is therefore not represented as an open grant application.
- What is the real economic value?
- Up to RON 250,000 of de minimis aid per newly established SME, covering no more than 90% of eligible project expenditure. The beneficiary must provide at least 10% own contribution and create at least two jobs.
- Who is eligible?
- An eligible Romanian resident in Pillar I or II who completes at least 40 hours of approved entrepreneurship training, establishes a new Romanian SME, serves cumulatively as legal representative, sole or majority shareholder and administrator, locates the business in the founder's development region, contributes at least 10% of eligible cost, and commits to create two jobs and preserve the activity and funded assets under the sustainability rules.
- How does selection work?
- Register in the programme's electronic training module under the correct pillar and regional allocation; Complete the free authorised entrepreneurship course of at least 40 hours and obtain the graduation certificate; Establish a new Romanian SME with the eligible graduate as controlling executive founder; Open the company-financing form when the ministry activates the relevant module; Submit the scored business plan, budget, co-financing, job, ownership and eligibility declarations with electronic signature; Pass automated scoring, minimum-score ranking, administrative verification and any clarification requests; Sign the de minimis financing contract if selected; Implement purchases and create at least two jobs within the contractual period; Submit payment, invoice, employment and procurement evidence and accept inspections; Maintain the activity for three years after full payment and both jobs for at least 24 months after implementation. Applications that clear the published minimum of 50 points are ranked by score and then undergo administrative verification and contracting. The procedure does not publish a dependable end-to-end decision interval for the still-unannounced company-financing window.
- What burden and restrictions apply?
- The beneficiary documents purchases, payments, co-financing and two created jobs, accepts announced or unannounced checks, keeps the funded activity for three years after full payment, keeps the jobs for at least 24 months after implementation, replaces vacancies within 45 days, preserves ownership of funded assets and company shares, and faces recovery for noncompliance. The procedure supports eligible technology and equipment, digital and renewable-energy assets, furniture and workspace equipment, wages and utilities within prescribed limits, websites/software, consultancy and other listed startup costs. Spending must follow the approved plan and procurement/payment rules; second-hand, unrelated, double-funded and excluded-sector costs are ineligible.
- What evidence exists?
- The two pillars have a combined published budget of EUR 446.185 million The programme targets approximately 7,500 new SMEs and 15,000 jobs, with 5,250 businesses and 10,500 jobs under Pillar I On 10 August 2026 the official training transparency page still showed 11,851 places available across four under-30 regional categories, while the over-30 category showed zero; these are training seats, not grant awards The programme targets about 7,500 financed businesses—5,250 under Pillar I and 2,250 under Pillar II—but no current company-application denominator or realised acceptance rate is published.
Related grants
Sources
- legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/304312 — Official consolidated implementation procedure covering pillars, training, ownership, geography, grant economics, scoring, process, eligible costs, jobs and monitoring (checked 2026-08-10)
- minimis.imm.gov.ro/sn2024/transparenta_cursanti — Official live training-seat transparency page checked for current staged-program availability without inferring an open company grant (checked 2026-08-10)
- legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/287373 — Official enabling ordinance and total programme budget framework (checked 2026-08-10)